This is Part III, images from Shetland. This selection doesn't reflect all of
Shetland, which is over 100 miles from end-to-end, in fact the four images here
were all taken within circle about 2 miles across at the extreme south end of
the Shetland, my patch on the islands.

Curious Puffin, Sumburgh Head

One of the big tourist draws on Shetland are the puffins at
Sumburgh Head. There are numerous places
on Shetland where puffins nest, but the RSPB Reserve at Sumburgh is not only a
busy location (in puffin terms) it also provides several points where puffins
and people can get close together. At
times when I'm not quite sure if the tourists are there to see the puffins, or
vice versa. If you sit still the birds
will come very close to get a good look at what you’re doing. The RSPB reserve is also very close to the
main airport on Shetland and during the summer it's very common for people to
head straight up to Sumburgh Head as soon as they arrive, and to try and fit in
a final visit to the puffins just before leaving.
We know from experience that it’s about 7 minutes from the reserve to
the airport check-in desk!

Quendale Bay Sunset

Shetland is roughly 60 degrees north. This means that during the summer it doesn’t
really get properly dark (the locals call it Simmer Dim), and in the winter it feels as if it doesn't really
ever get light. The other ‘quirk’ is
that the direction were the sun sets changes quiet dramatically during the
year. In the middle of summer, not only do you need to stay up pretty late to
see the sunset you also need to find somewhere with a clear view to the
northwest rather than the west. In the
autumn however, the sun does what it’s supposed to do and disappears due west
of the islands – and if you are lucky and the weather is clear to the west, you
might just see the sun dropping into the sea.

Loch of Gards, Scat Ness

One of my favourite places on Shetland is Scat Ness. This is
one of the two south-pointing peninsulas at the south end of Shetland, the
other is Sumburgh Head. Scat Ness doesn't
have the same dramatic cliffs that Sumburgh Head does, nor the Stevenson-era
lighthouse for decoration, but neither does it have the volume of visitors.

Scat Ness is a place to go for peace and quite, and for a
spot seal-watching and otter-spotting along with nesting terns and numerous
other birds dropping in to visit the freshwater Loch of Gards. In the background is Fitful Head, the highest
point at the south end of Shetland.

Scat Ness Storms

It would be an understatement to say that Shetland can be
windy.

The wild winds ensure that there
aren't too many trees around on Shetland, and that the buildings are all built
to be capable of withstanding winds that would wreak havoc elsewhere in the country. When the storms blow in they generate huge
waves that usually batter the west side of the islands. However, the storms don’t last forever. Every
storm eventually passes, and the days after a storm are some of my favourite
days on Shetland. Sometimes the sun
shines, and there are still big seas blowing in from the storm.

On these days, I will regularly go out onto
the more remote parts of Scat Ness and watch the waves barrelling in against
the rocks, spinning up a mist of salty spray and providing a reminder that wave power might just be worth considering.

The exhibition

If you want to see these pictures and more, the exhibition runs from 12th November 2013 to 12th January 2014 – there is more information about the exhibition on the Jam Factory website